


at a party (one-shot)

by Rose1832



Series: Eleven Kisses [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, Romance, dumb kids at a party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 23:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20768777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose1832/pseuds/Rose1832
Summary: At a party - for a betYugi isn't normally one for drinking games.





	at a party (one-shot)

He’s definitely not sober, he thinks to himself as the word rolls under his feet. Back and forth, like he’s standing on the hull of a ship on a tempered sea. Not all the time- when he stands perfectly still, the only movement is the other partygoers around him, ambling about with neither direction nor care. Only when he turns can he feel the ground wavering beneath his feet.

An arm materializes around his shoulders, a warm pressure keen on holding him in place. “Doin’ awright, Yug?” Slurs the voice of Joey somewhere to his right. He finds himself leaning into the grip, grateful for the offer of support. He wonders distantly how Joey can hold himself upright so easily.

_ Lightweight, _ a voice in the back of his mind sniggers chidingly. _ Two beers and half a glass and you’re already gone. _

“‘M fine,” he manages to respond.

The last of Joey’s mixed-whiskey-something vanishes from the solo cup with a satisfied gasp. “This Kaiba guy sure knows how to throw a party. Never woulda known, what with that stick up his ass all the time,” and Yugi isn’t sure which one of them giggles about it.

“Too bad our gracious host decided not to make an appearance.”

“Thank god,” Joey slurs, and their giggle fit is interrupted with hiccups that only make them laugh harder.

“So,” the taller boy is leering down at him, like the cat that got the...what’s the phrase?

_ Worm._ He’s pretty sure it’s _worm_.

“See anyone you like?” And it takes Yugi a second to remember that Joey had been asking him something, and then another second to realize the question he’d just asked had been directed at him.

Yugi bats at Joey’s hand for that comment, somehow missing both times. He swears it must be moving. _ Meanie. _ “I dun’no what you mean,” he mumbles, and the lie is so blatant that Joey barks a laugh.

“Sure, pal,” and Joey must have planned this, or it could be a universal miracle, but Atem Sennen chooses that moment to pass in front of him, long and regal and unaffected by the booze making its rounds save only for a pink flush high on his cheeks. The effect on his features is astounding; it only highlights the dimensions of that perfect face that on any other day would be set in stone. Today, though, even he seems to have let loose; Yugi had noticed right away how much softer the man looked when he allowed himself to smile, or when a joke brought out that deep, rumbling chuckle that was far more intoxicating than anything in a bottle.

Atem glances over at Yugi as he passes by.

Smiles. Waves.

Yugi’s knees are about to fail him.

“Sennen,” someone was calling from a room downstairs, giggling almost too hard to speak. “Get in here! Drink or Dare is about to start!”

Those dark, endless eyes turn towards the threshold to the staircase, and it looks as if Atem is _trying _to play the exasperated adult except he’s completely giving himself away with that look of what could be any mix of excitement and curiosity. Yugi watches the outline of his frame move towards the other room, the partygoers stepping out of his way like revering subjects to a king.

Atem hadn't been the only one interested. A small flood of drunk teenagers was starting towards the gaming room in his wake, whoops and wolf whistles rising above the crowd.

“C’mon, Yug,” Joey is laughing, tugging them both in the same direction. “You know we’ve gotta- we’ve gotta _ see _ this!”

“Okay!” Duke, clinging to a solo cup of something dark and sweet-smelling, is shouting over the packed room, face red from a combination of whatever he’s holding and the heat of a room of sweaty teenagers packed like sardines in the room of pool tables and vintage arcade games. “Rules as stands! Everyone gets one dare. No limits, but don’t be a dick about it. Dicks are eliminated by proxy, got it? You can drink to pass, but you don’t get to continue to the next round. Takers?”

Immediately a dozen hands are in the air, with others popping up after a chorus of encouragement from friends hell-bent on seeing each other be stupid. Yugi is at first surprised when his winds up among them, only to realize it’s being held hostage by Joey, who somehow hasn’t stopped cackling since they entered the room. It takes him a heartbeat to tell himself_ fuck it, _and he stands on his toes to reach their hands higher in a declaration of the gauntlet being thrown, earning him a hard clap on the back from Joey that puts him in danger of faceplanting.

From several feet away, propping himself against a wall as though it were built with him in mind, Atem quirks an eyebrow in his direction over the rim of his cup, amusement sparkling in his questioning stare. _ Really? _

Yugi is pretty sure he can feel his heart fluttering in his chest like a caffeinated bird trapped in the world’s tiniest cage. Doing his best to keep the same relaxed, suave attitude as the other man, he returns the question with an attempt at a casual half-shrug. _ Could be fun. _

With a smirk that read almost as a challenge, Atem’s arm went into the air. Duke let out an excited cheer.

“Then everybody grab a shot and let’s _ do _this!”

The mind of a wasted teenager is truly something to behold, Yugi realized not for the first time, as the laughing and jeering crowd around him bumped and swayed to the low beat of whatever music Duke decided best fit his little game. Dares were being tossed around with reckless abandon, each one earning more raunchy laughter from its power-hungry audience than the last. They had started simple- “_ Dance like a cowboy on the front lawn!”- _ but very quickly had become more adventurous, with feet being smelled and pants ending up in places that pants should definitely never go. Surprisingly, very few shots were taken in the first round, although a small handful of poor souls ended up being told to do things like “ _ Confess the worst thing you’ve ever done, but don’t give us any context” _ or, at a request that made Yugi and several others wince in sympathy, “ _ Lick the armpit of the hottest person in the room.” _

It was a rough one on two fronts, but to Tristan’s credit, he had hesitated a fair amount before actually drinking.

When Joey, now wavering on his feet and slurring every other word, stood up on the pool table and raised his (yet again) empty cup, Yugi realized a split-second too late that should have trusted the feeling of his stomach sinking like a concrete brick in a roadside puddle and prevented it from happening.

He could only tell himself this was the universe punishing him for letting himself walk so blindly into this situation.

“I dare- _ fucker- _ Sennen! I dare you to-” _ hic- _“I dare you to plant one on Yugi!”

A resounding_ ooooo _rose up around the room, and Yugi found himself sending up a silent prayer that the heat rising to his cheeks would blend in with the flush from whatever Tea had handed him earlier. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Atem, too busy glaring daggers at his now smug-looking friend to turn the other direction.

“Well?” Duke challenged from the front of the room, clearly interested in what was about to happen.

Atem, lithe and graceful as always, pushed himself from the wall with an easy shrug. “I don’t believe there’s a game Yugi or myself has ever lost. I don’t see any reason to start now.”

Yugi couldn’t believe his ears. Could alcohol cause hallucinations?

“Well, Yugi?” Atem was in front of him now, expression as cool and impassive as ever with only the slightest quirk of the lips to give away how amusing he must have found Yugi, all red and gaping like a fish. He was close enough that Yugi could smell the last traces of a gin and tonic on his breath. 

_ Fuck me, _Yugi thought, not entirely sure which way he meant it.

“I think you’ve got a point,” he heard himself say with more confidence than he knew he had. It was the alcohol; it _had _to be the alcohol. 

“I think I do,” said Atem, and then they were kissing.

Atem’s lips were sweet and soft and a little bit fruity. They caressed Yugi’s with such gentleness it might have only been a brush of the lips. It was chaste, too; purposeful enough to fulfill the terms of the bet, but light enough that Yugi could step back if he felt uncomfortable.

_ Of course, why wouldn’t he be a polite kisser? _

As if he needed to be even perfecter- perfec- _ more perfect _than he already was.

As suddenly as it had begun, Atem was pulling away, and Yugi found himself grateful that whatever whiney sound of displeasure he felt leave his mouth was swallowed by the jeering of the crowd around them.

His mind was flatlining and reeling at the same time. Should he say something? He had to say something. Something clever, something impressive-

“Awh man, that was so- _ HUREUGH! _”

Several people screamed. A string of curses that would make a sailor blush spilled from Tea’s mouth as she grabbed for her coat, pulling it away from the vomit spewing onto the table as Joey’s stomach upturned what was probably the last four shots he’d done off of a blowup doll.

“Oops,” he rubbed his neck sheepishly, swiping his sleeve over his mouth a few times with only some degree of success. Yugi heard someone retch from somewhere across the room. Several others were gagging at the rapidly diffusing smell. “Totally meant for that to happen.”

The gathering had readily dispersed soon after that, as people began passing out in various rooms of the Kaiba mansion (much to the chagrin of the host of the party, whose younger sibling was very happily tasked with keeping the guests in line. Yugi found himself grateful he’d been on Mokuba’s good side going in).

Clutching his hand like a lifeline, Joey’s drunken mutterings blended in with those of the others around them; a small herd of people just sober enough to wait for a cab on the curb without falling over completely. Joey was the cusp of the line for that capability, but Yugi’s world had returned to him enough to look out for the both of them, as he had reassured both Tea and Mokuba profusely.

A headache was already beginning to nip at the space behind his eyes by the time they started on the ride home. Distantly, he knew the night was beginning to slip away from him. He’d probably forget most of it by the morning.

His eyelids became heavy as soon as his pillow found the back of his neck.

Somewhere in his imagination, he could still smell traces of gin and tonic.

He hoped he could still imagine them by morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the hiatus on this account.  
I've been getting into the Puzzleshipping mood lately by trying for some one-shots. I'm finding they make for great warm-ups and make it easier to get into the swing of writing. It's helped clear the mental fog that's been keeping me away from the main chapter fic that I've got going!  
One of my fall resolutions is to try to be more proactive about writing. I'm not sure right now what that means for published works, but I think this is a good start!  
Thank you guys so much for reading! I'm always kept afloat through the hard times with how lovely and supportive all of you have been for me through the years. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this account, so look out for some stuff in the next few weeks!  
As always, comments are appreciated. I love hearing what you guys have to say!
> 
> (send some love on tumblr!: anonymous-lizard)


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